THEATER FEATURE: New Village's Shakespeare is back outside again for 'Much Ado'

While in graduate school in New York City, Kristianne Kurner enjoyed the Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park productions in Central Park. So when she co-founded New Village Arts Theatre in Carlsbad in 2001, she was determined to provide free outdoor Shakespeare here.

And for 10 years, she did just that, until last year, when the theater moved its summer Shakespeare production indoors.

"Last summer we did 'Comedy of Errors' indoors," she recalled. "It was a matter of money and the crazy amount of work it took to do it. But it's always been one of our patrons' favorite events."

So this year, with the sponsorship of the Carlsbad Charitable Foundation and TriCity Medical Center, New Village Arts is once again producing free Shakespeare in the park with "Much Ado About Nothing." And as before, it will be a production that mixes teen actors with professional actors as part of The Shakespeare Network, New Village's educational outreach program. With 15 professional actors and five teen actors, it's the largest cast the theater company has ever assembled.

"Much Ado About Nothing" is a favorite Shakespeare comedy where all is well at the end, despite a tempest of trouble in the middle. It tells the story of two sets of lovers at different times of their lives finding each other after a war. Claudio and Hero are young and new to love, while Beatrice and Benedict are older and both of sour dispositions. The latter are tricked into a relationship by their peers, but their love proves truer than that of the younger lovers.

Kurner, who is directing the production, has set the story in 1945 on a ranchero in Carlsbad, the ranchero of Western serial film actor Leo Carrillo to be exact. The late actor's ranch is now owned by the city of Carlsbad and is registered as a historical site. New Village's production is only inspired by the Carrillo ranch, though; it will actually be staged on the campus of Pacific Ridge School in Carlsbad.

Kurner said her reasons for choosing Carrillo Ranch as the location for her story are many.

"My grandmother's golf partner was Leo's adopted daughter. So I had a personal connection to it. Plus, I liked the idea of mixing Carlsbad history with Shakespeare. We're performing it near his ranchero, and he used his home to honor Mexican and early American heritage. He would often throw these big parties and invite people from Hollywood so they could learn about his culture."

"Much Ado About Nothing" begins with a party as the men are returning from war. In the New Village version, the soldiers are coming back from World War II. Kurner has turned to San Diego composer Jason Connors, who is also an actor in the show, to create an original score based on mariachi music.

"I'm really excited about this production," she said. "We have many new cast members making their debut. Plus, this is a play that does a wonderful job mixing high comedy with tragedy. It's a battle of the sexes with interesting characters. In this play, you get a little bit of everything."